THE fight against domestic violence in the Wokingham district will be bolstered this month when a women's support charity launches more services to help victims.

For 28 years Berkshire Women's Aid (BWA) has been helping women experiencing domestic violence through its refuges in West Berkshire, Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham.

The BWA has been given a boost with the opening of its ‘second stage' refuge in Wokingham.

The refuge is the place where women can come after they have been to a ‘first stage' facility (somewhere they go when they are initially in crisis), to find resettlement and re-housing.

Stephanie Cooney, area manager for Wokingham and Bracknell BWA, said: "This is a tremendous development for our service and will help us reach the women out there, and their children, who are suffering.

"We haven't got a second stage refuge in the Reading area so a majority will move from Reading to Wokingham.

"So the effect of this new facility is that it will prevent blocking of the first stage crisis refuge so we will be able to support more women in immediate danger."

Wokingham District Council was approached by the Housing Association, which had an empty property available.

"The Housing Association asked us what we would like to do with this empty property," said a district council spokesman.

"We looked at our priorities and the BWA needs and brought them together.

"This second stage refuge project also follows on from a grant we awarded them to get an outreach worker last year."

One in four of all domestic violence incidents in the Reading with Wokingham police area, take place in the Wokingham sector.

Between January and December 2002, there were 460 incidents across the Reading with Wokingham area, compared to 375 in 2001 and 330 in 2000.

A Reading with Wokingham police spokesman said: "Domestic violence is going up because more people are coming forward and reporting it, which is brilliant.

"We have a domestic violence team here who are more than happy to hear from anybody experiencing domestic violence and will do their best to help them.

"Call us on (0118) 953 6000."

BWA is also trying to target women in rural areas of Wokingham to try and combat their isolation.

"There's more of a stigma living in isolated communities. There's small village politics and it makes it difficult to set up surgeries," said Stephanie.

"We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg — women experience a number of assaults before they come forward to seek help."

BWA is working hard in the battle against domestic violence and from last September was able to provide a full-time outreach worker to support women in the Wokingham district.

Stephanie said: "This is for women who are experiencing domestic violence but are still living in the community, who don't want or are unable to seek refuge, to empower them and make them aware of the options available to them.

"We've not been able to offer outreach work in Wokingham before as it's hard to establish a new service.

"But it's getting easier under the local community safety strategy with the local authority and social services as part of a multi-agency project."

A 2002 Council of Europe study revealed one in four women

experience domestic violence during their lifetimes and between six and 10 per cent of women suffer domestic violence in a given year.

And according to 2001/02 British Crime Survey statistics, of the estimated 635,000 incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales, 81 per cent of the victims were women.

BWA is also one of the groups to benefit from the Wokingham Times' Giving Tree Appeal.

Last year, BWA got a share of the 1,000 presents donated to the district's needy children, which also helped charities including Home Start and Barnardos.